Bus Stop 'Dancing Queen' Gains Fame Online By Showing Off Slick Moves
Feb 09, 2021 by apost team
Dancing is a natural part of life and for some people, it's less of a choice and more of a need. That's the case for one woman named Ellie Cole from Eastleigh, England, who loves to dance more than anything and often finds herself dancing alone in public.
One day in 2013, a friendly local resident decided to capture Cole in all of her glory dancing at the bus stop—while Cole was completely unaware! The video subsequently went wild on the internet, gaining over three million views. It propelled Cole into the public eye and even landed her a role in a theater production!
For some people, music is a way of life and for others, dancing is a way to appreciate music even more. There are those who love to listen to music, all day, every day, while some take that even further and find that they can't stop themselves from moving to the music either, no matter where they are. That is the case for one resident of Eastleigh, England, named Ellie Cole.
In a now-famous video from 2013 titled "Eastleigh's Got Talent," the then-35-year-old Cole can be seen waiting at her local bus stop. Filmed from the other side of the road, the scene is pretty ordinary—a woman is waiting by the side of the road for the bus while watching the passing cars to make sure it doesn't arrive without her noticing. She's obviously listening to music through headphones, as from the get-go she is moving her shoulders and upper body, grooving along. But it's clear she's trying to keep her moves to a minimum—she's on the main road with plenty of passing cars, after all! The video is set to the tune of ABBA's iconic song Dancing Queen—a perfect fit for Cole's curbside performance.
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As the video goes on, Cole becomes less inhibited, as she starts moving her head, her entire upper body, and even swaying all the way down to her legs. But it's when nearly one minute in she really feels the music and does an air punch that shows how much she's into it. This is followed by more moves utilizing her hands and arms, and eventually even her feet. Cole's bus stop dance moves are a treasure to watch—here is a person who is just so into the music they're listening to that they feel compelled to dance along to it on the side of the road. We could all aspire to be as uninhibited as Cole. Unfortunately, though, all good things must come to an end. After two minutes of grooving and moving, eventually, Cole's bus arrives, blocking the camera's view of the dancing queen, and as it drives off, there is nothing but an empty curb left on the screen, with Cole's dancing now simply a memory.
The video has all the perfect elements to make it famous on the internet. It has a person doing something awesome and hilarious, but completely unaware that they're being filmed, and it's set to a classic song that everybody loves. Together, Cole's performance, the filming of it, and the song combine to create something much more magical, and by now over three million people seem to agree!
For the video, we have fellow Eastleigh resident Jane Rowland to thank in the first place. When the two women were interviewed together for Today, Rowland was asked if she was worried about recording someone else's personal moment. She said:
"No because I've been watching her for months and everybody had seen her going along the street. I videoed her because my friends asked, they wanted to see it, so I popped it on my Facebook page and the rest is history basically."
Cole told the news outlet that she always listens to music on her commute home from work and that she can't help but dance, meaning it's more of a compulsion than a choice. After she was asked what her first reaction was when she found out about the video, before it had reached internet fame, she said it was, "Oh dear." When asked by one of the hosts on Today about the fact that she likes to dance in public, she responded:
"I do, unfortunately, but as my mom always said, I have more rhythm than sense."
But the resident of Eastleigh is being very modest. It turns out she has a background in musical theater and the far-reaching video even landed her some work! After writer/director Lynne Paris saw the video, she invited Cole to be a part of Ah, Men! a show at The Point Theatre in Eastleigh. Referring to Cole's dancing video, Paris told The Daily Telegraph, "I think anybody who likes music could identify with it." And surely that universality is why the clip has become such a sensation.
But despite making such an impact on strangers all over the internet, Cole still finds what happened surprising. She told The Daily Telegraph that the offer to be in Ah, Men! was "very flattering and humbling." She added:
"I'm just a normal everyday person who happens to like dancing at bus stops. Still to this day I find it hard to believe what happened with the video."
Rowland also spoke to The Daily Telegraph and said what everyone was thinking—that Cole "is an inspiration to us all and has cheered everyone up."
But one more question remains unanswered—what was the song that Cole was actually dancing to? The chances of it being ABBA's Dancing Queen are very unlikely, despite how well the song fits the video. Turns out it was Knockdown by Alesha Dixon, a song that has a very groovy beat. It's no wonder that Cole couldn't help herself and simply had to bust out her moves. And we're more than glad that she did.
Cole's bus stop performance is the gift that keeps on giving—from brightening her own day to that of her fellow Eastleigh residents, and later millions of people around the world, her willingness to be herself in public and have fun while doing it is an inspiration to us all.
What did you think of Ellie Cole's curbside moves? Have you ever been caught dancing in public? Tell us your stories in the comments, then be sure to brighten someone's day by sending them this video!